I had no idea that carpet would be so pricey. I guess I was just totally out of it. For some reason, I was thinking carpeting my room would be like $800. Not even close. I went today to check, and for some really cheap carpet, I can get it done for $1300. And that's a pretty cheap carpet. This was one thing I totally underestimated. I just hate sinking $1300 into the carpet, when I got all kinds of other things I need to buy. But I guess I have to do it.

The carpet I'm looking at is $12 a square yard, which is actually quite cheap per square yard. Most carpets are in the $18 to $28 range a square yard. I gave the guy all my measurements for the room, and told him all about the riser, and he determined that the installation would be $319, and that it would be an extra $75 for the riser. So basically, $394 for the installation. The 1/2 inch carpet pad would be $213.32. The carpet itself would be about $639. It totals to just about $1300, and again, this is for a pretty cheap carpet. He said I would need a 40 ft by 12 ft roll of carpet to do the whole room. I think it's like 54 square yards.

Anywho, for those working on the theater projects, don't forget how pricey carpet can be. I'm going to get a few more quotes tomorrow.

Thats a good point. We just recarpeted a couple rooms in our house. We didn't have anyone install it, and it wasn't hard at all.

I'm looking hard at this right now. The overall best deal seems to be the HD $150 for one or $199 for two rooms labor plus carpet. They always seem to have 'special buys' at from $1.25 to $2 per sq. foot that seem to be equivalent to about double that cost in non-special buy; of course, there are only three or four types of carpet at that price, but many colors.

Hopefully, they will still have that deal when I'm ready in a few months. I've been told likely as winter is slow season for carpeting.

db

A good carpet installer would have insisted on measuring the room himself. My family was in the carpet business for many years. I could hardly believe the prices myself. The carpet my wife picked out for our theater is $45 a yard. I'm looking online to see if I can find a better deal on similar carpet....

Thats a good point. We just recarpeted a couple rooms in our house. We didn't have anyone install it, and it wasn't hard at all.

Wow, you actually did the install yourself? I've done DIY on everything in the theater so far, but carpet is one thing that I would prefer to have a professional do. From what I understand, if you try to do it yourself on the carpet install, you have to rent the special tools that power stretch the carpet, etc, etc, and by the time you're done renting the tools and everything, the savings on the installation isn't really all that great, and that's if you actually end up doing a great job of it, which is sketchy at best, but maybe that's just me trying to justify spending so much damn money on carpet.


I'm looking hard at this right now. The overall best deal seems to be the HD $150 for one or $199 for two rooms labor plus carpet.


I actually went to Home Depot, cause I was interested in the same deal, but there are a couple of issues with it. First, it's $159 for one room, but it's only for "BASIC" installation. If you have a riser, like I do, then it normally doesn't qualify for this deal. I talked with the lady at Home Depot about it, but the lady that was working in the carpet section was pretty clueless. But basically, she said that if you have a situation like a riser or something out of the ordinary, then you have to have them come in for an in home estimate, and that costs $50. They look at the room and determine if what you want to do is considered "custom" installation, or if it's in the normal parameters of the "basic" installation. If you decide that you don't want to go with Home Depot, then you loose the $50. If you go with them, then the $50 goes towards the job.

I'm guessing if the guys come out to my house, they are going to take one look at the riser, and think that it's defintely a "custom" job, and then the whole advantage of going with Home Depot is out the window. If you don't get the $159 installation, then Home Depot doesn't really make any sense. I'm still going to go to another Home Depot tomorrow and try to get some more answers. The lady that I talked to didn't seem to be that knowledgeable about it.


A good carpet installer would have insisted on measuring the room himself. My family was in the carpet business for many years. I could hardly believe the prices myself. The carpet my wife picked out for our theater is $45 a yard. I'm looking online to see if I can find a better deal on similar carpet....

Yeah, the quote I got for around $1300 for the room, the guy did say that he would have to come by and look at the room himself before guaranteeing that price. I'm sure most places are like this, unless you have the most basic of installations. I'm not sure if they charge a non-refundable fee to come by and examine the room first hand before doing the deal. $45 a yard? Oh my goodness! Man, if I did something like that in my room, it would make the cost astronomical.

Please let us know how it goes, who you ended up going with, and whether you were happy with the results and pricing. I have a feeling a-lot- of us (myself included, of course) went DIY with the sole exception of this particular trade and it would be a good to get a "state of the state" with regards to current pricing etc. With some luck and more elbow grease I should be buying carpet a bit later this winter.

It's actually quite funny if you stop and think about it - most of us won't bat an eyelid at moving HVAC runs, running new 110v lines, kerfing beautiful curves in lumber or upholstering entire rooms. But when it comes to carpet we just shrug our shoulders and move aside. It's almost as though by the time we get to this step, it's like we need a break and want to watch someone else get on their hands and knees for a change. :D

FYI: Nylon prices have increased ~65% since 4Q03. That is one reason why carpet is more expensive these days. This is a function is higher crude oil prices. Keep in mind that carpet manufacturers have been pushing polyester carpet (PET, Corterra) to their dealers the last two years. This is because they make it from recycled plastic bottles, which drops their costs substantially (relative to nylon). However, they often price polyester carpet similarly to nylon carpet, which nets them a higher margin. I would get the nylon carpet. Polyester carpet looks as good as nylon carpet when new, but it does not wear nearly as well. It makes pills and fuzz much more quickly. Being a theater, you might be able to get away with it though, since it will be dark and won't be a high traffic area. The higher priced nylon carpet (Stainmaster, Weardated) is truly superior to the cheaper builder-grade nylon carpet.

Beware HD carpeting install. They contract out and you have no idea who you are going to get. I went with them and they did this to my house:

http://members.cox.net/nebrunner/profloor.htm

It took several reinstalls to get their work fixed and then it took months and a few trips to the courthouse to get the money back so I could pay the guys who fixed their work.

Anyway, whoever you get, meet them first. If I had met these guys first I never would have let them into my house. Your best bet is to go with a smaller local carpet place that does their own install, and then ask to meet the installer or if it's a team of folks, meet the foreman. Ask him about similar jobs he has done, etc. It might cost a few bucks more but it's worth it.

I can see this is going to be a great thread. I couldn't agree more that carpet is one of the more expensive items in a theater aside the electronics. I will not DIY on this one. I just think a carpet install done right will make the room look great but done wrong will be a nightmare.
We looked at Home Depot a couple years ago to have some carpet installed. The guy that was supposed to come out to measure was a no show/no call so we went to a Mom and Pop shop. The prices were just as good and the install was A+. We will plan to get a couple estimates from similar places but will probably not check at Home Depot. With a curved stage and a riser I want someone that has made this their trade for years.

I budgeted for around $1000 for a 13 x 19 room.

Yep agree with you there it sure is I dropped over 3k on carpet and pad, and I'm not done yet. :(

Anthony

I believe you get what you pay for. Carpet is one thing in everyones home that gets the most abuse especially if you have children and animals running around. I would look to a place that sells only flooring. They will help you choose a carpet that fits your application that won't break the bank and like Nebrunner said most flooring stores have there own Professional installers.

You think $1300 was high I payed $2300 for my HT carpet and install :) But then again I bought top of the line Carpet & water proof pad





Nebrunner

Wow I bet you were in shock :eek: when you saw the finished carpet install. Most places and installers do say they will cause some damage to the woodwork & trim depending on what kind of backing your carpet has but that was unreal. Thats one reason I had the carpet installed in my HT before any wall treatments went up.

It's actually quite funny if you stop and think about it - most of us won't bat an eyelid at moving HVAC runs, running new 110v lines, kerfing beautiful curves in lumber or upholstering entire rooms. But when it comes to carpet we just shrug our shoulders and move aside. It's almost as though by the time we get to this step, it's like we need a break and want to watch someone else get on their hands and knees for a change. :D

Good point. I even moved my natural gas line and plumbed in a bathroom. But carpet, no! :D

That said, I'm thinking of hiring someone to help put up trim as well. I counted 72 cope cuts needed for the trim pieces, and at the speed I do cope cuts, that could take me 2 months. It's probably a couple day's work for a pro.

I did my theater with remnents that I picked out myself and husband installed I have Black on my stage, Navy blue on my aisles, Purple patterend on my riser, a pattern in my concession and media rooms, and a complimentary mixed color carpet in my hall way leading to the theater.
I believe the cost for all of them installed was under $700.

Carpet installation isnt that hard. If you can make accoustical panels, you can install carpet. The principals are the same. I think seams and very odd angles would make the difference between DIY and having a pro do it. Seams can be tricky, especially if there is a pattern to the carpet.

Power stretchers are really only needed for very large rooms. 20-22' isn't a problem with a knee kicker. Temperature is super important. Carpet should be inside for a couple days before the install. It also helps to rough cut the carpet to the room and let it lay out in a nice warm room. The warmer the better.

I wrote a fairly long DIY install carpet thread on this forum about 5-6 years ago. I have searched every way I know how but can't seem to find it. Is there any way to search the archives?

. Is there any way to search the archives?

Click on one of the two archive threads and use the search function

Click on one of the two archive threads and use the search function

Thank you, Sir.

Here is a link to the old thread. I had thought I wrote a basic install thread but it's more just pointers. I can do a write up of tools needed typical installs etc if anyone is interested.
http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=88338

[QUOTE=W00lly;12598179]Anthony


You think $1300 was high I payed $2300 for my HT carpet and install :) But then again I bought top of the line Carpet & water proof pad

QUOTE]

I'm looking at putting carpeting in my basement. I don't have any major water issues, and I think I've addressed the one area where some leaking occurred. For protection however, I plan to use something besides standard rebond. What kind of pad did you use that is waterproof?

Beware HD carpeting install. They contract out and you have no idea who you are going to get. I went with them and they did this to my house:

http://members.cox.net/nebrunner/profloor.htm

It took several reinstalls to get their work fixed and then it took months and a few trips to the courthouse to get the money back so I could pay the guys who fixed their work.

Anyway, whoever you get, meet them first. If I had met these guys first I never would have let them into my house. Your best bet is to go with a smaller local carpet place that does their own install, and then ask to meet the installer or if it's a team of folks, meet the foreman. Ask him about similar jobs he has done, etc. It might cost a few bucks more but it's worth it.

That's a terrible install job and I agree with going with a small local flooring shop. They are very customer oriented, professional and competitive and will usually beat HD prices.

The carpet is one aspect that I certainly wouldn't want to DIY. A small square or rectangular room, maybe. But when you get into carpeting around curved areas such as a stage I think it's better to leave it to a professional. When you go looking for an installer, find out if they're insured and definitely ask for references.

I paid more using the installer I did, but he was extremely courteous and patient, he had to wait while I tore apart my stage and part of my riser to get the staple gun in. It took him a day and a half to complete a fairly small job. He did make me promise to invite him and his wife to my Superbowl party though :).

Sherwin Williams is a good place to get carpet. They have a floor covering division.

just carpeted our whole basement including the theater for the price of $3500. have the pros do it, it nice to come home and it's done. it was about 24$ a yard installed.

I think seams and very odd angles would make the difference between DIY and having a pro do it. Seams can be tricky, especially if there is a pattern to the carpet.

Power stretchers are really only needed for very large rooms. 20-22' isn't a problem with a knee kicker. Temperature is super important. Carpet should be inside for a couple days before the install. It also helps to rough cut the carpet to the room and let it lay out in a nice warm room. The warmer the better.

I agree with everything you said except for power strectching. I use to install carpet for a living and we would power strectch rooms that are a 10' X 10'.

The downside to DIY is if you mess up cutting the carpet it can get costly quick. Now you have to pay for your mistakes, whereas if a professional installer messes up it is on him to fix or pay for the problem.

Even though I know how to install carpet, I still paid someone to have it installed for me. I did not want the hassle of renting equipment and dealing with all the custom work.

I went through Advance Carpet One and they had free financing for 2 years and free labor deal going on. I spent around $3.50 a SF on my carpet and the total was still around $2400.

There are definately pro's and con's either way you look at it. One thing for sure is that it has to be done! ( Sticker SHOCK:eek:)

Cheers,
JJ

I got a free install deal. The guy that came out never even heard of coving. :( Rediculous. This was 12 years ago now. The guy did his best on the coving. Still looks decent. Never looked perfect though. I was not even sure what I expected out of it as far as the coving was concerned.

I got a pretty good deal. $850 installed my room is 19 X 15.5 feet plus I have a rise and step. It was nice textured carpet and super plush pad (thickest available) as well. Not too shabby. They had other carpet for $500 installed but I really liked the textured carpet better since the room is kinda plain inside.

I picked this up at Lowes. It's a very nice design. Sucks because I bought all new 8# pad and when I ripped up the original carpet there was an 8# underneath in like new condition. :o Cost me right at 1100.00 installed.

http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL426/2023328/18486887/293369102.jpg

Beware HD carpeting install. They contract out and you have no idea who you are going to get. I went with them and they did this to my house:

http://members.cox.net/nebrunner/profloor.htm

It took several reinstalls to get their work fixed and then it took months and a few trips to the courthouse to get the money back so I could pay the guys who fixed their work.

Anyway, whoever you get, meet them first. If I had met these guys first I never would have let them into my house. Your best bet is to go with a smaller local carpet place that does their own install, and then ask to meet the installer or if it's a team of folks, meet the foreman. Ask him about similar jobs he has done, etc. It might cost a few bucks more but it's worth it.

Holly chit.... What a hatchet job! That's absurd, I hope you were able to arrive at a mutually agreeable financial arrangement.

I had a similar issue a few years back with HD and a Pergo installation via a turd of a Sub-contractor. Went around and around until I got what I wanted and they corrected all issues to my satisfaction.

Best of luck....

Dardog

Karastan makes the pad but cant seem to find a link to it. heres a photo Its made of a reflective material on both sides with some sort of plastic type foam in between. Feels awesome to walk on but is about $7 a yard compared to the standard rubber foam pad at about $2

I say don't scrimp on the pad as that's what makes the carpet feel nice to walk on

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/W00lly/HTRoom294.jpg

Woolly, you're a brave man doing the carpeting before painting. :D

I picked this up at Lowes. It's a very nice design. Sucks because I bought all new 8# pad and when I ripped up the original carpet there was an 8# underneath in like new condition. :o Cost me right at 1100.00 installed.

http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL426/2023328/18486887/293369102.jpg

Is the checkered pattern carpet blue and black or grey and black? Curious as I could live with that in my theater.... and probably for alot less than $45 a yard....

I have lots of BIG painting tarps :rolleyes:

WOOly,

Thanks for the information. I'm leaning towards using flat rubber (90 to 110 oz), but I am always looking for ideas based on other people's experiences. Flat rubber is going to cost me about $5 a square yard, so it's pretty pricey as well.

Dardog
I was wrong I found the link I got the Mohawk platinum pad. This is the part that sold me. Mold and mildew resistant! I was lucky to get a great salesman that I had worked with before so he gave me the high dollar pad for the same price as the cheaper pad :)

Not sure where you are located in kansas but there are a ton of mohawk carpet dealers down there I say go check it out and walk on it yourself

http://www.mohawk-flooring.com/carpeting/carpet-cushion.aspx

Any recommendation as to the style of carpet which would be best for a home theater? ( Cut Pile, Cut / Loop, Loop Pile).

I'm just reporting back on my carpet search. Ok, originally, I was thinking it would cost $800 to carpet my room, then I got a quote of like $1350, and now I've got a few more quotes. Went to this one place, and the quote was like $1550. Then I went to this place called S & G Carpet, I guess they are a pretty big dealer in California, and they had this carpet that I liked quite a bit. I gave the salesperson the room dimensions, and he said it would be roughly $1690 installed with tax and everything.

Remember, originally I was thinking $800, so $1690 was quite a bit of a shock to me, but I've come to realize that carpet prices have skyrocketed in recent years. I think the $800 price that I had in my head, might have been doable in 1995, but not 2007. I really liked the color and look of the carpet, so I thought that I could actually swing $1690. Well, the salesperson explains that the $1690 is only a rough estimate, and that they would have to come to the house and take measurements of the room, etc, etc. So the guy comes out today, and takes all the various measurements, and the price ends up being $2200!! OUCH. Apparently, the salesperson had calculated that I needed carpet for 486 square feet. The guy that did the measurement came up with 585 square feet, so that pretty much accounted for the difference in price, from $1690 to almost $2200.

He still wanted me to buy it for $2150 or whatever the total came out to be, and I explained that in my theater budget, I just don't have that much to dedicate to carpet. I still have all my acoustical treatments, as well as furniture to deal with, and I can't blow the whole deal on carpet. I told him that my absolute max was $1700. So, he does a bunch of misc. calculations, and he could get it down to like $1975. That was basically the best he could do. It was better than $2200, but I still can't really see myself spending this much on carpet, cause I still have to afford all this other crap too. So I had to pass on it.

The guy that gave me a quote of $1550 installed is starting to look a lot better to me. The only problem was that the color of the carpet wasn't quite as dark as I wanted. I'm trying to find a dark grey. I kinda wanted black carpet, but my wife felt that black is a bit ridiculous, and I was willing to compromise on a dark grey. The guy at $1550 has a medium gray that is nice, but just not quite as dark as I was hoping. Still, my plan is to go back to his shop tommorow, and see if I can make arrangements for him to come out and give me a final estimate on the exact cost. If he can really do the room for $1550 OTD (out the door) , I think I'm going to have to roll with that. That saves me $475 on the other deal, and that $475 will hopefully go a long ways towards paying for my linacoustic and poly batting for my walls. If, on the other hand, I find out that he dramatically underestimated the $1550, and it's actually much closer to $1900 or so, I'll go back to the other carpet.

Maybe it's just California. My wife and I had looked into carpeting her two story condo, and we got a quote of I think $2,200 for basically cheap carpeting. (We were going to sell the condo.) That's for the entire condo, not just a room. At the prices you're discussing, you could put in hardwood (and I realize that hardwood isn't the thing to put into a home theater, but when carpet begins costing more than hardwood, I think there's something amiss).

My carpet odyssey has taken a dramatic turn. Today, I went to a placed called Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. It's the local version in my city. Not sure if they have this in other cities, but I think Habitat for Humanity is a nationwide thing if I'm not mistaken. Anyways, the Re-Store is a place where they sell various home related items for super cheap. It's where I got my old carpet for this room. The main reason I didn't go here in the beginning, is because they normally only have your typical tan or beige type carpet. That's what I had before. But this time, I wanted a much darker color.

So I go in there, and see if they have any dark carpet. I found a dark carpet that would work. It's really thin, the industrial, commercial type carpet. Like the kind that goes in an office building or something. Definitely not my ideal carpet, but the price was just so nice. I was able to get three pieces of carpet. One piece was 12 x 20, another was 12 x 32, and another was 10 x 13. It should be enough to do my whole room. The price was $191.80 out the door. The normal price is 30 cents per square foot, but the lady at the register gave me a special deal, and chopped about $65 or so off the already low price. I have some carpet pad left over from my previous carpet, and I think I'm going to try to use that. It's 1/3rd inch pad, and I would like to add another 1/3rd inch on top. Actually have two layers. I'm not sure if this is something that can be done, or if it's better to just have one layer of pad. If it's better to have one layer of pad, then I'll prolly dump the pad I have and get some better 1/2" pad. With such a thin carpet, I'm going to need a nice soft pad for it.

Anyways, I'm going to get the pad, and then find a guy to do the install. I'm hoping to get it installed for $400 or less, including doing the riser and everything. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the whole thing done for basically $800, which is what I was originally thinking in the first place. Unfortunately, I'm just not going to have the super nice plush type carpet that I originally wanted, but it would have been like $1800 or more to have that kind of carpet installed in here, and I'd rather save the 1 grand and put it into acoustical treatments.

Resurrecting this thread to add another sticker shocker:

I just got off the phone with HD after they came out to my place to measure the basement - for some reason, I had a figure somewhere in the 1000-1500 range in my head, but it turns out that the final quote is $2100 inclusive of tax. :eek:

Those of you who are following my build know that it's a "miniscule" space - the HT area itself is about 8' x 20' and the entire floor area to be carpeted can't be much more than 200 sq ft. The carpeting we picked out is a dark grey Mohawk Smartstrand eco-engineered fiber (DuPont Sorona) which isn't cheap to start with (the sign at the HD was "from $4.00/ft installed") but if you do the basic math, it should come in somewhere upwards of 200*4 = $800 + whatever additional labor is required.

So my first thought was "ripoff"! But giving it a little more thought, there probably is quite a bit of additional labor. In addition to the curved stage up front, there are three doorways to transition, plus the biggie: a narrow, uneven stairway requiring five steps to be completely wrapped (they're open riser), and another four normal steps wall-to-wall, plus a small landing.

Plus we're doing the stairs in one carpet (Trafficmaster commercial grade) and the rest in the Mohawk, so they have to order additional materials for the former (HD said it was an extra $100). And they factored in an upgraded underpad that adds another $100.

So doing the math a second time: $800 for the basic installation and yardage of the Mohawk, plus $100 for the upgraded underpad, plus $100 for the material to do the stairs, plus, say, $200 to do a curved stage, $100 for all the doorways, and $500-600 for the stairs and landing (does $50 a step sound reasonable?) and we're at $1800-1900 plus tax, which takes us to the original quotation.

Does carpet really cost that much these days?? I'm wondering if I should get another flooring company to do an estimate, but I already paid my $60 for the Ho'Depo measurement, and I suspect that it's not going to be much different. Bear in mind that I'm in Toronto, which is a major metro area with labor rates on par with cities like Chicago or Philly. :(

HD sells Mohawk carpets? interesting i will have to check that out.

as for carpet installs any time they do stairs or risers you will see an additional charge. i am looking at getting quotes for the 1150 sq ft and stairs of my basement. if i get lucky with finding a deal it will still be over $3000. its just hard to find a good carpet and get it installed for under $3 per sq ft. later.

Also keep in mind that you will be paying for "extra carpet", not just what you end up with installed. Carpet comes in either 12' or 15' widths. So if your room is only 10' wide, you will still be paying for those extra few feet of width that need to be cut off. Sometimes that extra material can be used for things like stairs or closets. You should be able to see the CAD cut drawing they the installer is going to use to get an idea how much is going to be wasted.

Lowes by me is doing a "sale" whereby the install is 159/room or 199/house. Now they then would upcharge for new installs, risers, etc. We just had a guy in measuring today and should have quote soon.

Regarding the quality people are choosing (and I normally go for the good stuff); to me, the theater requires a very basic carpet. No real traffic, no-one ever on the floor, needs low pile to be easy to clean (commercial type). Dark room that no-one will really notice what it looks like. So - I am looking in the $1-2 per sq. ft. range. Even some of the sub $1 per sq. ft. in-stock carpet at HD looks fine.

What am I missing?

(to contrast, the abutting playroom will need something a bit plusher - just comfortable enough for my kids to throw sleeping bags down and sleep on (sleepovers and the like).

db

Yeah, I know the carpet I'm looking at comes in a 12' roll that will have significant wastage. They specifically said that I'd need $100 worth of the alternate carpet for the stair area, or else they could do it with the offcuts. But I think the significant cost is really the stair labor here.

HD Canada sells the Mohawk Smartstrand and Ecostrand lines under their own Eco-options brand. Bear in mind Ho'D sources regionally, so not everything is available in all markets.

As for quality, my space is semi-dedicated, and the entire carpeted area needs to be done in the same material. Some parts of the basement will also be a play area, general gathering area, and part of it is really a hallway between the stairs and laundry, so I'm going up a few notches. It looks like the real cost for me is labor anyway - if I'm going to pay someone to put stuff down, it might as well be the good stuff.

When it comes to carpet and pad I say get the best you can afford the better the carpet the longer it will last. flooring gets a ton of abuse

kinda nice having a small theater. 10' x 13.5'
Black carpet - $120
8lb. 1/2" pad - $70
Labor - $100
Paying less than $300 for carpeting - priceless:)

I've never done any real price comparison shopping, but I've always wondered if those mom&pop carpet stores have better pricing than HD or Lowes. I have to imagine that they have to be somewhat competitive otherwise how would these places stay in business.

Mu guess is Yes - competitive but for the 'installation specials' run by big box (e.g., $199 for multiple rooms fixed install cost ..plus stairs and risers.)

http://www.carpetbargains.com/carpettile.html

Carpet Tiles can be a good alternative to broadloom. Not quite the same effect, but definitely a DIY prospect.

Yeah, I know the carpet I'm looking at comes in a 12' roll that will have significant wastage. They specifically said that I'd need $100 worth of the alternate carpet for the stair area, or else they could do it with the offcuts. But I think the significant cost is really the stair labor here.

HD Canada sells the Mohawk Smartstrand and Ecostrand lines under their own Eco-options brand. Bear in mind Ho'D sources regionally, so not everything is available in all markets.

As for quality, my space is semi-dedicated, and the entire carpeted area needs to be done in the same material. Some parts of the basement will also be a play area, general gathering area, and part of it is really a hallway between the stairs and laundry, so I'm going up a few notches. It looks like the real cost for me is labor anyway - if I'm going to pay someone to put stuff down, it might as well be the good stuff.

I'm not quite to the carpet stage, but I was in Alexanian's the other day picking up an area rug for another room and he ball parked 1k+tax for my 19x13 room with a $4sq ft carpeting... I don't have near the complexitiy you do, but he did say he'd come out and measure for free, so I imagine you could get some 'sanity check' quotes without having to pay for anything from some other people.

I was really pleased with my local Alexanian's guy (Michael in Burlington), I will have him in to quote for sure when we are ready in a couple of months.

http://www.carpetbargains.com/carpettile.html

Carpet Tiles can be a good alternative to broadloom. Not quite the same effect, but definitely a DIY prospect.

Hmmm. Great prices on that site. We've been toying with the idea of doing carpet tiles in the theater. That would solve the problem of having to build the riser prior to final inspection. Instead we could have it inspected and then do the final trim work.

How does one handle the upholstered edges of the stage and riser? (carpet wrap around the edges).

I looked into this before and my understanding was that such was not plausible with tile - you had to use wood trim for the edges.

Karastan makes great stuff. That's about all I use in any part of my house.

If you really want to save money, get a carpet without a pattern in it. You'd be amazed how much extra you may have to buy (and how much leftover waste) just matching patterns. They're really nice looking but on a budget, a nice tight, thick, good quality carpet in a plain cut pile/short shag is just as comfortable, just as warm, just as good acoustically, etc.

Bryan

I was just at Lowe's looking for carpet. They had some pretty decent stuff in their Special Buys section for under $2/sq ft including the 8 lb. pad.

Anyone tried Empire Today? I have them coming for an estimate tomorrow. Depending on what they tell me I may be installing myself.

Since this thread got ressurected anyways, I might as well update my situation with the carpet. Ok, so I got my carpet for $191.80. That was for roughly 80 square yards. My room is actually more like 60 square yards, but there was three rolls of carpet, and I figured I might as well buy all three rolls, and if there is extra leftover so be it. Now, as for pad, I had a bunch of pad from before. Not enough to cover the whole room though. I had about 40 square yards of pad left over. So I knew I had to get some more pad. So I went to this carpet place to buy a 30 square yard roll of pad. Well it turns out that they only have one roll left that would match my existing pad. It was going to be like $115 for the 30 square yards. So he goes to go get the roll, and then comes back and says that he has bad news. He said that the pad was damaged, likely by the forklift. I asked him how damaged, and then he took me to where it was to show me. Basically the forklift punctured the bag of pad in two places, but I thought that it was still usable. Obviously, it would require some tape and patching, but not that big a deal. So the guy says, "Because this is damaged, I might be able to sell it to you for $50". I told him that I would take it for $35, and he said ok. Also, they didn't charge me any sales tax either. So I got the rest of my pad for $35.

With the installer, I found a guy in the classified ads of my local paper. Licensed and bonded. He came out, and took a look at the room. I actually had a deal worked out with another installer for $350 out the door, but the guy kept flaking. This guy wanted to charge me $150 for the riser, and then $325 for the rest of the room. That would have totalled to $475. I told him that I had a guy that was going to do it for $350. I then offered him $370, and he accepted. He said that if jobs weren't slow right now, he wouldn't have taken it, but that he has some openings in his schedule, and he would be willing to take it.

So, I paid $191.80 for the carpet, $35 for the pad, and $370 for the install. Grand total of $596.00. On top of all that, after he was done, I had left over carpet and a little bit of pad, and I sold it on Craigslist for 40 bucks. Just wanted to get rid of it, without having to take it to the dump. So, I really actually ended up paying $546.00 for the whole deal. Considering it was basically 60 square yards with a riser, that comes out to $9.10 per square yard for everything. Not too shabby if I say so myself. Here are some pics of the finished job:

Here is what the carpet looked like:

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g257/Anthony1fromDP/carpetcloseup.jpg

It's basically a dark grey commercial type carpet. The kind you would see in a Radio Shack or office or something. Definitely not the super plush type carpet I originally wanted, but it will do the job. Also, supossedly it's built to last and take a serious beating. The installer said that this type of carpet is nearly indestructable.


http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g257/Anthony1fromDP/carpet1.jpg

Here it is in the room. He did the entire room except the riser on one day, and then came back another day and did the riser.


Here is the riser:

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g257/Anthony1fromDP/Picture.jpg


Truth be told, I still would have rather had a nice, thick, super plush carpet, but I just didn't have the big bucks for it. The carpet I really wanted would have been about $1975 to install. This ended up being $546. The money I saved will help pay for all my acoustical materials, and fabric and such. So I can't really complain. :)

Anthony, you are practically Clarence-like in your ability to score deals. Looks great.

Are you doing fabric on the walls? If not I would have painted first.

[Bud Light Commercial Guy Voice]

Here's to you, Mr. Carpet Installation Bargain Hunter....

[/Bud Light Commercial Guy Voice]


Seriously, nice job on getting the carpet for so cheap.

Anthony, you are practically Clarence-like in your ability to score deals. Looks great.

Are you doing fabric on the walls? If not I would have painted first.


Yeah, I'm definitely putting fabric on the walls. Just look at that horrible mud job! I need to use fabric whether I really want to or not, lol. Truth be told, I'm definitely doing the whole acoustical treatment thing, so I was definitely planning on going with fabric, so that's why I didn't work too hard on the mud job, and just painted black around the extremities so the white wall doesn't show underneath the fabric at all. I should have also painted black where the chair rail is going to be, but didn't think I would need to use a chair rail, but now I think I will be. I guess I'll just be painting my furring strips before I put them up.

[Bud Light Commercial Guy Voice]

Here's to you, Mr. Carpet Installation Bargain Hunter....

[/Bud Light Commercial Guy Voice]


Seriously, nice job on getting the carpet for so cheap.

Ha ha... Good one. I watch a ton of NFL football and have seen all those bud light commercials, lol. Yeah, I did really work it to get the best carpet deal I could, and thank God I did, cause I paid out the nose for my linacoustic and OC703. Unfortunately, I couldn't find either for a decent price anywhere around me. I had to pay nearly $250 after tax to get my 100 foot roll of linacoustic, and I had to pay $200 to get two boxes of 2" oc703. Believe me, I called a ton of places locally, and really tried to find a way to get those materials for cheaper, but it just wasn't going to happen for me. I guess the moral of the story is to work hard for any bargain basement deals you can possibly get, because there are going to be other things that you're forced to pay top dollar for, and have no other less expensive option.

This is my carpet. $875orered from ebay. http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh294/rgould1669/theater008.jpg

I was just at Lowe's looking for carpet. They had some pretty decent stuff in their Special Buys section for under $2/sq ft including the 8 lb. pad.

Anyone tried Empire Today? I have them coming for an estimate tomorrow. Depending on what they tell me I may be installing myself.


I decided to go with Empire for the carpet. Mainly because I was strapped for time. I need to have my theater done for the Super Bowl and their availability for installation was key.

I got the carpet, pad and install for $1185 for my 13x20 room. The installation required ~34 yds of carpet, making the sq ft cost a little under $4/sqft. The carpet was 58 oz. face weight and a 6 lb. pad.

If time is not an issue I'm sure you could get a better price from HD or Lowe's.

If you are going to go try Empire be sure to negotiate, the salesman gave me an estimate of $1500, I asked for $1200 and he came back with $1185 (:confused:). Clearly they're putting a lot of fat into their estimates. I'd come in at least 30-40% below their initial "estimate".

great advice on the negotiating with empire. same goes for luna. never go with their quoted 1st price. later.

My room is 14'x20' with stage and seat risers. I paid $450 installed.

I called around on Craiglist and found an installer who didn't mind me using his account to access a local warehouse. I bought carpet/pad at 1/4th retail. You can call the warehouse directly and ask for reference. I am sure someone there can help. Priceless. :cool:

My room is 13x17. I have an 18" stage that I want in black, so the stage (no steps) is ~13x1.5x1.

The Lowes guys decided I don't qualify for their "deal" so they want $1,100 (500 materials, $600 labor, so much for $159/room) for my install. I was execting around a grand, but the part that through me off is that they are charging an equal amount for the 18" deep stage as the 17' long room, and they specked the wrong material.

We are shopping around.

Any One Need Great Carpet Prices In Illinois Pm Me I Own 4 Stores And Would Live To Help Forum Members

I started making the rounds looking at carpet prices, patterns, installation, etc. As I am sure we can all agree that this part can make grown men cry.

I stopped at a local Carpet One dealer that my Father-in-Law had used in the past and recommended. I got good, honest information.

A little background. I have concrete floors with the old asbestos tiles over the top. The tiles are in really good shape. I painted them with porch paint when I started the room. The carpet guys said that they can install whatever I want down there. If I want something plush with a pad they can put down tack strip, if I want commercial they can glue it, or any combination. This was my biggest concern. When at the box stores they wouldn't even look at it.

The guy at Carpet One explained when to use a big pad, and skimp on the carpet, and when to use nice carpet without pad, etc. Why some carpets cost more. I got the whole lesson, it was great.

I found a patterned carpet that I really liked that came in about 9 colors including black. It was made by Lees which from what I understand has been around forever. I think they are part of Mohawk. I am trying to find a picture to include.

We finished shopping around. We went with a basic grey and black for the stage. We are using a topshelf pad, since the adjacent room has that and we want the feel to be similar. We are also having some other rooms re-stretched in preparation for the house sale. Price was about $200 less than the Lowe's price. Hopefully it goes in this week while I am away.

OK just to update my earlier post, I finalized the basement carpet order, and the breakdown is as follows, just to give folks a reference point. Note that I didn't shop around hard or look for any great bargains as it's winter, I'm tired of working on the HT, had good experiences with previous installations from my local HD and liked the guys that came out to measure and quote.

The space is basically an L formed of a 8.5' x 20' area plus another 8' x 8' area. The Mohawk Smartstrand (HD Eco-options) cut pile plush lists for just under 3.00/ft and comes in 12 foot rolls, of which I required a 20' section and another 8' section - that's about 340 square feet or $1000. In addition, I ordered a small roll of cheaper 28oz commercial-grade carpeting for the stairs and landing, which was an additional $100 for the material.

Carpet material: $1100
Upgraded 8mm Ecofoam underpad: $300
Home Depot basic installation: $300
Additional charges for stairs and landing: $200
Additional charge for curved stage 8.5' x 3': $100

This is $2000 plus taxes bringing the installed price to $2100. After the estimate was done I waited awhile and the store called back to inform me of their current promo, which is the nationwide $99 basic install that Big Orange frequently does, and they were willing to apply it to my job, bringing the basic install part to $100 and cutting the final installed price to just under $1900 so I bit.

Turned out that the labor was not as expensive as I originally suspected; it was the additional wasted material, and the upgraded underpad, that bumped up the price.

If you go to a large carpet retailer.......ask to see what they have left over from commercial jobs. Restaurants or hotels can have some great patterns and often excellent quality for some pretty amazing prices when the carpet stores have no use for it.

I found some excellent dark burgandy (matched my walls) with gold diamond shapes running in lines the whole way. I couldn't have designed it better myself. I paid less than 1/4 of what the hotel paid.

Tough part is finding something you like.

Cheers,
Jay